Thursday, September 21, 2017

Sometimes, it pays to be lazy. It's definitely rare, but thanks to our total lack of diligence getting these updates posted, we actually have a lot of things to tell you about. Where to begin...

// CLOSE COUNTS OUT ON MINT 400 RECORDS OCTOBER 6TH //

Yes, this is the big news. Our second album is not only completed and mastered, it's already being pressed. As in right now, as I type this, it's getting pressed. Considering we had not recorded a note of it the last time we posted here, that's some big news, right? It will be available via Mint 400 Records on Friday, October 6th.

We recorded the bulk of this record over a 2-day, 20 hour span at Magpie Cage Recording Studio in December with J. Robbins. Working with J. was great. He's a master of his craft and knows how to make fantastic sounding records. He's also a great guy to hang out with and has a ton of cool stories. He knows where the good pizza is (or was, RIP Two Boots South). In Baltimore, this is a very important skill.

We finished the recordings at our home studio (as we had with Palace Amusements) and then went back for the final day of mixing in July. We wrapped things up in the middle of the night, exchanged hugs and went on our way back to Jersey, new album in hand. From start to finish, it was a great experience.

NJ Racket was kind enough to premiere the first track off the record this week. In case you missed it, you can find "Can't Stop Now" linked and embedded below.

If you're more of a central jersey type, feel free to join us Sunday at Arts In The Park in Highland Park. It's an all day street fair that basically shuts down Raritan Avenue and jams it full of musicians, artists, food vendors, crafters and the like. It's a great family friendly event and it's completely free. We will be performing along side the KINGS of Highland Park, The Anderson Council as well as RGD and The Nowhere. Music starts at 11:30 and we go on right around 3:30 PM on the 2nd Avenue (and Raritan) Stage.

Monday, August 8, 2016

Greetings from shore towns and points north of the Driscoll. Hope your summer is going splendidly. It's been another "stop and go" season for us, but it's time to get things rolling again and here's all that's happening in the TBR camp.

// SUGARFEST

We're happy to announce that we will be opening up this year's Sugarfest at The Citizen in Jersey City with Dentist, Fruit & Flowers and Karyn Kuhl Band. As always, we're thrilled to be involved in one of Sugarblast/Signal To Noise's events - we're two time Camelfest veterans from the Dromedary days. Al does a great job putting these bills together and the vibe is always one of friendship and community. And of course, the music is always on point. So come for us, stay for everybody and come back on SATURDAY for our buds in Miss Ohio and Stuyvesant, along with Kerbivore and Sink Tapes.

For a refresher on all things Camelfest and Sugarfest related, here's our cover of Husker Du's "Could You Be The One" from the 2012 Camelfest, live at the venue formerly known as Maxwells.

// UPDATE ON LP #2

Before finally taking the board out and breaking down the studio (see below), we managed to get through all the basic demoing of the 11 songs that will make up the next record. Huge thanks to Peter Horvath of The Anderson Council who managed to squeeze us into not one but two sessions before breaking up and relocating his own studio. Once the new space is up and running (again, see below), it will be back to work at getting the songs prepped for tracking.

A photo posted by The Brixton Riot (@thebrixtonriot) on Jul 20, 2016 at 6:21pm PDT

Silverbeat (named for the Bats album) was the small blue room where we tracked a ton of "Palace Amusements". As Jerry packs up shop and moves on to a new address, we bid farewell to the tiny space where we tracked every vocal and guitar line from our last record. It wasn't without it's problems - the acoustics were basically non-existent and the strange "square minus a square" layout meant fitting everything (and more than two people) in at the same time was a challenge. But we made some good music in here (as did Lost Romance) and we had fun doing it, so saying goodbye comes with a bit of sadness...

// ...HELLO, something-something

...but the new address (whenever we get there) has a bigger dedicated space that is much closer to a studio. Sure, it's a basement and it will likely have its own challenges, but at least we can get everyone in there at the same time. Probably. Guess we will find out.

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Hope summer 2015 has been treating you well, it's another hot one here in the dirty Jerzee.

We've been diligently cranking away at the songs for LP #2 over the last few months. So much so that we're around the 3/4 mark for finished songs with a ton of other things in various stages of completion. Conversations about recording have started up again, and these are very good conversations to be having.

As a result, we haven't played many shows this year - but good news! That all changes on Friday.

We're going to be taking over the New Park Tavern in Jersey City to throw a party for Steve as he celebrates his pending nuptials. And you can read all about it right here on NJ.com. Huge thanks to Jim Testa for taking the time to chat with us about the show and our almost 9 years together as a band.

As for Friday night, we're thrilled to be sharing the night with our good friends Stuyvesant, pillars of the Hudson county scene themselves. It's a free show and everything kicks off promptly at 10 PM. Hope you can be there to help us celebrate our man Steven with the fanfare he deserves.

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

It's been real quiet around here, hasn't it? Hard to believe we'll be sticking a fork in the year that was 2014 just over 12 hours from now.

What a strange year it's been for our band.

On paper, it seems a little underwhelming - a few new songs, a handful of shows and that was pretty much it.

Behind the scenes, it was anything but boring.

One of the trickiest parts of being in a band at this stage of life is balance - balancing family, work and the band is always challenging and this year was loaded with curve balls and missteps. Our philosophy has always been that our family lives come first. As a result, we didn't get to do all the things we hoped for in 2014. But we loved the things we did do - Matt playing Clem Burke's kit at the Split Single Show. Being a part of the Balloon Squad reunion show. Celebrating Jerry's birthday with a Happy Mondays show at Wonder Bar - where Mark got the gift of his life from some of the greatest people we have the pleasure of knowing. Ringing in David Wilson's 40's in a small Jersey City bar. Wrapping it all up with the great guys in Stuyvesant at their record release party a few weeks back was the perfect ending.

We'd love to tell you that 2015 is the year we record the follow-up to Palace Amusements, but that's probably a little ambitious. We've got a number of songs ready to go and many more that have already been started, so it's not beyond the realm of possibility - but as always, you never know when "life" is going to creep into these schedules.

Rather than judge this year on shows or output, we prefer to judge it on the experiences of the past year - and in that respect, 2014 was a huge year for us. A big thank you to all who came to our shows, played our songs on the radio, bought our music or enjoyed our band this year. Your support never goes unrecognized and we can't begin to tell you how much it's appreciated.

The good folks over at Speak Into My Good Eye already posted the first half of my list (you can read it here) but I also came up with a follow-up post. I guess one just wasn't enough this year.
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We were treated to a fine year's worth of music in 2014. My tastes tend to lean towards louder guitar-based music, so there isn't much variety beyond that on here.
SOME OF MY FAVORITE RECORDS OF 2014 (in no particular order)
Bob Mould Beauty & Ruin - He just keeps getting better and better. The Sugar reboot really seemed to light a spark and like Silver Age before it, Beauty & Ruin is all kinds of great. It even might be (ever so slightly) better than its predecessor.
Doug Gillard Parade On - Doug might be the hardest working man in rock, second only to maybe Robert Pollard. And unlike Uncle Bob, he knows what to keep and what to toss. Parade On is a great record through and through.
Stuyvesant Shmyvesant - This hasn't been out a month and it's already one of my favorites of 2014. Great collection of songs from these guys, I can't wait to hear these live.
Wussy Attica - Probably one of the most criminally overlooked bands of the last 10 years, but that seems to be changing. The shared vocals of Chuck Cleaver and Lisa Walker are always compelling, especially when they take two different sides of a story.
These Estates Triumph, Reign - I hoped that These Estates could fill the void of baritone-fused guitar rock that was left by Bottomless Pit (and Silkworm before them) splitting up this year. Alas, These Estates aren't making anymore new records, but Triumph, Reign and last year's The Dignity of Man are a hell of a swan song.
Miss Ohio Whippoorwill Road - The title track was one of my favorite songs of 2014.
Radiator Hospital Torch Songs
Overlake Sighs
The Lees Of Memory Sisyphus Says
Lake Effect Adolescence EP & Childhood EP
Pujol Kludge
The Primitives Spin-O-Rama
Cloud Nothings Here And Nowhere Else
Ex Hex Rips
Dentist s/tFAVORITE LIVE SHOW OF 2014 - The Replacements at Forrest Hills Stadium
I'm going to come right out and tell you that I'm a huge Replacements fan and as such, my assessment of their late September jaunt in Queens will be incredibly biased. It's hard not to swoon when you get to belt out "Bastards of Young" and "Left Of The Dial" with your twin brother and some of your closest friends in the house. I waited 20 years for the chance to see some of my heroes and it's obvious that I wasn't alone in my excitement. A lot has been said about how this isn't a reunion without Bob or Chris or Slim, but when it comes to The Replacements, the songs were always the draw and they still pack 'em in.
FAVORITE MOMENT AT A TBR SHOW
Without a doubt, this had to be at our Brighton Bar show opening for Split Squad. The look of impish glee on Matt Horutz's face when Clem Burke's drum tech asked "would it be cool if you use Clem's kit tonight?" looked like something you would see on Christmas morning. I'm jealous. Maybe one day I'll get to use Elvis Costello's Jazzmaster. Doubt it.
FAVORITE DISPLACED MAXWELL'S REUNION - The Feelies at Asbury Lanes
I don't think there will ever be another place like Maxwell's, but for one night it was alive and well a block from the Asbury Park boardwalk. Just like their July 4th shows, there were no openers and the band took a brief intermission between sets, so it was all Feelies and that's fine by me. The hour plus drive didn't seem to keep the regulars away. There were so many friends and familiar faces in the audience I expected to see the jukebox on the way back from the bathroom. And as far as I know, nobody got towed or booted, so the parking situation was a huge improvement.
And I could very easily add seeing Television at The Stone Pony to this list. It's going to be hard to top that next year.
Cheers,
Jerry
TBR

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

We are pleased to announce that our long winter hiatus is finally coming to an end.

We're thrilled to be back at Long Branch's staple of live music, the one and only Brighton Bar. This is for a very special mid-week show opening up for The Split Squad (featuring none other then Clem Burke of Blondie and Eddie Munoz of The Plimsouls).

We're beyond psyched for this one and we think it will be a good time. Or at the very least, you will get to see us make asses of ourselves in front of one of Matt's heroes. So really, it's $10 well spent either way.

You will also have our deepest respect for coming out on a Monday night and to that end, we will START PLAYING playing by 8 PM. Don't worry, you will get home nice and early.

Hope to see you there!

Cheers,
Jerry / Matt / Mark / Steve

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MONDAY, April 28th - 7:30 PM
THE BRIGHTON BAR
OPENING FOR THE SPLIT SQUAD
(featuring members of Blondie and The Plimsouls!)

Monday, October 7, 2013

We're writing to inform you that an extremely rare occurrence is...well... occurring... We are playing a live show this month.

In fact, we're playing two...in the same week.

Last year, we had the extreme pleasure of taking part in Dromedary Records excellent Camelfest at Maxwell's. By all accounts, it was a great time. This year, they're bringing this great event to our favorite club, Asbury Lanes in Asbury Park, NJ.

The best thing about Camelfest is that all of the proceeds go directly to the Roots and Wings Foundation of New Jersey. This is an important organization that does very special work in our state - specifically, they provide support and services to children who age out of New Jersey's foster system. We are thrilled to lend our talents (as humble as they may be) to this wonderful cause for a second time.

This year's Camelfest is also part of Dromedary Records 20th anniversary festivities. To celebrate this milestone, they will be releasing a compilation album of songs originally released in 1993 and covered by Dromedary bands and other artists, including us. We'll be revealing our song choice very soon Dromedary has revealed the track listing and you can check it out here.

But wait, there's more...

On Friday, October 25th, we will be rejoining our new Elk friends for RENT PARTY Road Show. This is when the Rent Party crew takes the very popular and well established South Orange ﻿events and presents bands at different lodges in the area.

We've played and attended Rent Party events in the past. These are some of the best places to catch live music in New Jersey right now. The bills are always excellent (again, ourselves withstanding) and cohesive. The sound is good. There's cheap booze. They're held in nice areas, unlike some of the unsavory places we've played in the past. The cover is more than reasonable (and goes directly to fighting hunger in the community). There's cheap booze. There's free parking. And more than anything else, the atmosphere just feels like a big party. This is likely related to the cheap booze.

We hope you can make it out to one (or both) of these events and help us raise money for some important causes and help us wrap up 2013 as we wind down our show calendar for the year.